Return of the CopyCatter Hatter
by glancesherlock
Summary: CC Hatter tries to wreak his revenge on Hatter by stealing his and Hare's invention. When Dormouse catches him in the act, CC Hatter kidnaps poor Dormouse teapot and all to keep him quiet. Now Hatter and Hare are on a quest to save their little buddy!
1. A Mad World

Hey there, I guess I'll start with the disclaimer. I do not in any way own Adverntures in Wonderland or any the the characters that appear in this story. It's just a fanfiction. (A fanfiction is a story written by a fan! Who knew?)

Anyway, this takes place... probably after the last episode so Alice is like twelve or thirteen here, let's say twelve. But really this is a sequal to the popular "Copy-Catter Hatter" episode. As much as I love that episode, I really thought that C.C. Hatter had so much potential as a villain. So I decided to take him to the next level of EVIL!!! ^^

Also, as a heads-up, there is going to be some Hatter/Hare slash in this fic. Not much, just a little to apease the fangirl inside me. However, I want nonslash fans to be able to read this too so I'll tone it down. Another thing, the characters are going to be somewhat OOC but I'll still try to be faithful to the wonderful portayals that these marvelous actors have come up with for these guys.

So yeah, I'm done ranting so I guess you can start reading the story. That is if you haven't already skipped over my gobbledygook and have alread started reading. Hey, that's fine too!

* * *

The sky met the horizon at a fine line, almost like it would in a child's drawing. The grey overcast from above really seemed to touch the sandy ground. A lone figure walked at their connection. He was dressed head-to-foot in black and sitting precariously on his head was a top hat with a tag that read, "10/6." The road he was following went on and on as if all there was no place that it would ever lead to. The surrounding lands were bleak, filled with sand and the occasional bush. Every now and then one would see a small tree growing from the ground that would hardly produce any shade and was likely to die off soon anyway.

But so it was in Hinterland.

The manner in which the man in black walked had a slinking motion to it. He moved slowly, dragging his feet on the ground- out to his sides at first and then in front of him, automatically, as if it was a habit. He was currently stoking his red mustache out of sheer boredom.

He really hated this place.

Presently he came upon a lone building. He wasn't sure if it had always been there or if it had just popped out of the sand but he didn't much care. It was the first sign of civilization he'd seen for miles. Coming closer he saw that it was a tea bar. At the top was a sign with "Eat at Bill's" painted in faint green letters with a lizard coiled around the "B."

"Cute," the man muttered and entered the place. Inside, a row of tables lined the right side and the bar was on the left. It was dimly lit with the use of lamps that hung too low from the ceiling so that if one were to not watch where they were going they would hit their head. A television-like device known as a Crystal was stationed at the back of the room. The bar must have had bad reception because the program was fuzzy. It wasn't much to watch anyway, just a bunch of lobsters dancing a ballet. The man in black sat at a barstool where a Sheep was cleaning the countertop.

"Hey there," the Sheep said cheerfully, "Can I get you anything?"

The man shrugged and looked over and the figure a couple stools away. It was a Gryphon, snoring loudly in his sleep.

"What'd he have?" the man asked.

"Earl Grey with raspberry and a shot of lemon on the rocks."

"I'll take it," he replied, not even thinking about how it might taste. He couldn't help but copy what others did; it was just how he rolled.

"Yo Bill!" The man in black turned on his stool to see a Duck sitting at one of the tables with a Lory bird. It was the Duck that had spook. "Turn it on Channel 42 Bill! The Mad Hatter and March Hare are supposed to be on Mile High News today!"

The man froze. Surely it couldn't be the same…

"Yes," the Lory agreed, "They're announcing their new invention!"

A green lizard entered the room from the kitchen. He was dressed in a brown vest with a matching hat and around his waist was a white apron with the same "Eat at Bill's" sign that was on the front of the bar. Bill took a remote control from the bar table and changed the station. There was a segment about the Duchess's new shoes. Everyone in the bar groaned.

"Maybe they'll be on later," Bill said hopefully. He then ducked as a tea cup zoomed past his head followed by a cry of, "Pepper! MORE PEPPER!!!"

"Oh dear," Bill muttered, "She's in another one of her moods." And with that, he dashed back into the kitchen to calm the screaming woman.

Next to the man in black, the Gryphon chuckled in his sleep, "Yup, there goes Bill."

"He always does seem to go, doesn't he? He hardly ever comes." The man in black leaned back in his stool to see the other speaker. It was a turtle –sort of– with the head, tail and hooves of a calf. The creature had a melancholy appearance as if being sad was its fancy. Like its companion, the turtle seemed to be sleeping.

"Here's your drink, sir," the Sheep set the cup of tea in front of the man in black and walked off. The man blinked at it, he had forgotten that he'd even ordered a drink. He reached out to grasp the handle of the cup but stopped when he heard the anchor on the Crystal:

"Now let's go to the field to find out more about the upcoming National Wonderland Invention Convention with Takila Mockingbird. Takila?"

The fuzzy screen showed a man dressed in white with a paper hat perched on his head. A large, red bowtie sat crookedly around his neck.

"Thank you Jack," Takila adjusted his bowtie before continuing, "I'm here, in the heart of Wonderland, at the home of Mr. Mad Hatter, along with his friend the March Hare." Here, the camera zoomed out, showing a rather tall red-headed man dressed in a suit, much like the one the man in black was wearing but purple, and a grey top hat with a tag that read, "10/6." Next to him stood a brown hare who was wearing glasses and a brightly-colored jacket with matching pants. Both of them had dorky grins on their faces as if they weren't sure how to act.

The man in black scowled. He recognized and loathed them both- especially Hatter. His second-cousin, twice-removed had been the reason why he was banished from Wonderland and cast off into this pit hole that was Hinterland. After being exiled, the man had gone back to his family. Unfortunately, because of his disgrace, he was removed… for a third time. The man thought a moment and decided that this would make him Hatter's his second-cousin, thrice-removed.

"Mr. Hatter," Takila began, "I understand that you and Mr. Hare here are entering in the inventor's contest at the Invention Convention this week." The reporter held his microphone in front of Hatter's face.

"Uh, that's correct," Hatter said simply. Hare nodded in agreement.

"And, as I'm sure all of Wonderland is wondering, just what is your invention?"

"Can't tell yah," Hatter replied.

"Why not?"

"Hare, tell the man." Hatter stepped back to let Hare explain.

"We can't tell you, Mr. Mockingbird," Hare put a hand on his hip and a finger in the air, "because we're not even sure what the heck it is." He let his hands fall to his sides with an exasperated chuckle.

Takila looked at them both, dumbfounded, "What?"

"You see our invention is so inventive," Hare continued, "That it invented itself. We just put it together and made it brightly colored with a paint-by-numbers guide."

"How true that is," Hatter put in proudly.

The reporter blinked, "Okay… is there anything else you want to add?"

Hare shrugged, "Well, not really just…" Suddenly he began waving to the camera excitedly, "Hi Mom!"

Hatter followed suit, "Hi Hare's mom!"

Takila Mockingbird sighed and turned back to the camera, "Um… back to you Jack."

The man in black put his face in his hand. Of course those buffoons would invent something and not even know what it was. They're going to look like idiots if it does something irrelevant. He blinked, thinking about what would happen if the mysterious invention turned out to be something useful…

The man stroked his mustache and a grimacing grin crept onto his face. _Hatter's one joy in the world besides tea is inventing and designing. I tried copying his hat designs once before. Maybe instead of just copying my dear Mad Hatter, I could try…_

"Hey Mock," the Gryphon was awake now, turning to his turtle-like companion, "aren't we performing at the Invention Convention?"

"I think so…" the Mock Turtle sighed, "I'm sure we'll mess it up like always though. Mine really is a sad life."

"Oh bread and butter!" the Sheep exclaimed, "You have a lovely singing voice, Mock." When the turtle didn't reply, he turned to give the man in black his bill. "Here you go sir— what?"

The man in black was gone. In his place was an empty barstool with an untouched cup which held down a note scribbled in almost illegible handwriting. It read:

"Now don't be mad, my dear Mr. Hatter, imitation is the sincerest way to flatter… HAGH!!! —C.C.H."

* * *

Hurray for chapter one! I've got to say, I'm really proud of that tea bar. Mostly because I love Bill. He was one of my favorite characters in the book but you never really hear about him. Poor Bill.


	2. Enter Alice

Yeah, I know this one's short but I decided that Alice should have her own chapter. I really like how this one turned out though. I actually came up with a lesson-type-thing for her to learn! ^^

* * *

School that day had put Alice in an indignant mood. She stormed into her bedroom and threw her backpack at her bed, almost hitting a grey and white cat, who quickly hid underneath Alice's desk.

"Oh, sorry Dinah," Alice grasped her kitty and gave her a gentle hug. "It's just this class project competition that's got me all worked up." She sat on her bed and flicked her golden locks out of her face. She was wearing a white blouse with a blue vest and matching skirt.

"You see," Alice explained to her cat, even though she didn't seem to be listening, "The project is building a paper machete volcano and making it erupt using vinegar and baking soda. Our teacher is making it into a competition and whichever group wins gets free lunch for a whole week! But that's not the bad part. The bad part of it is that I wanted to work with Kim, but our teacher assigned us our partners and I got stuck with Andy Harper."

Alice crossed her arms and Dinah crawled off her lap, cuddling into the comforter of the bed.

"It's not that he's an idiot," Alice explained, "it's just that he keeps messing things up! I mean, he put way to much water in that paper machete mix so we had to make more. And then, at the end of the day, he went to put our volcano with the others and he tripped over someone's backpack and broke it! Now we have to start all over tomorrow, but I can't trust him to do anything!"

Dinah meowed, unamused.

"I know Dinah, I need to clear my head for a while." Alice got off of her bed and went over to a large, old mirror sitting in the corner of her room. It was at least six feet tall with silver markings along the side. Just like any other mirror would, it reflected back an imagery of her room, but Alice knew it was much more than just a run-of-the-mill mirror. She knew that beyond the reflection of the mundane life lay a colorful world, parallel and perpendicular to her own. She could almost hear voices coming from the other side.

_Use your imagination… you'll understand…_

Closing her eyes Alice held out one hand and let it pass through the mirror. The surface rippled and the reflection of her room faded. The mirror was now glowing, and light mixed with images of a lush forest filled with flowers and fruit.

_It's an adventure in Wonderland…_

Alice stepped through the mirror and disappeared out of sight.

And the mirror became just an ordinary mirror.


	3. The Battle of Dum and Dee

Hello all! I want to thank everyone for there wonderful reviews, they really pushed me into writing this chapter! ^^

You know, it's funny, it wasn't until about halfway through this chapter that I remembered that Dee and Dum had had a battle in the book. A put in a reference and didn't even know it. XD

* * *

Tweedledum was in a difficult situation. His croquet ball had landed in a sand pit near with a rather large tree guarding one end and two rocks blocking the way to the last wicket. He squatted next to the trap, trying to think of a way out of this scenario. Meanwhile, his brother, Tweedledee, stood leaning on his mallet, chuckling at his brother's misfortune.

"Go ahead Dum," he teased, "hit your ball."

Tweedledum ignored him and concentrated on the problem at hand. If he could somehow make this shot then he would win, but the way he could perceived it there were only three possible options. One: hit the ball into the tree and have it ricochet into the pond. Two: hit the ball into the rocks. Or three: hit the ball into Tweedledee's shin. The choice was difficult.

"Well?" Dee asked.

"Shh, I'm thinking!"

"Well, make it quick; the Queen's party starts in ten minutes and I don't want to be late."

"Alright, fine."

Dum stood up and brushed off his red jump suit. Adjusting his silver baseball cap, he took a hold of his mallet and tried to line up his shot so that it would hit the tree. Option one was better than nothing. He inhaled deeply and slowly pulled back his mallet. Dee drummed his fingers impatiently. He was just about to swing when—

"DON'T MISS!!!"

Started, Tweedledum struck his ball at the wrong angle hard and sent it bouncing off the tree, one of the rocks, the tree again, the other rock, and then smack on the bone of Dee's shin. Dee stiffened as pain shot through his leg and he tightened his lip stifle a scream.

Tweedledum recoiled but chuckled under his breath, "Oops, sorry Dee."

"Yeah, you better be!" Tweedledee grabbed his croquet mallet and charged at his brother. Dum swung his own mallet up in a sort of parry in order to block his brother's attack. It wasn't long before the Tweedles were having a melee with their mallets. As they continued to brawl, a rather obese purple Cat materialized above the pond, watching the battle with interest.

"Well," the Cheshire Cat grinned, "this turned out better than I thought."

"Hello Mr. Cat," Alice said as she walked down the path.

"Oh, hello Alice. Nice day, huh?"

"I guess," she blinked when she noticed the Tweedles, "What's with them?"

"They agreed to have a battle," he purred.

"About what?" she asked, as if this were an everyday occurrence.

"Dum smacked Dee on the leg with a croquet ball."

"Gotcha."

By this time, the two brothers were in a close encounter position, they mallets locked in front of their chests.

"I didn't hit you on purpose!" Dum exclaimed, "Something messed up my aim!"

"Oh yeah," Dee challenged, "What?"

The Cheshire Cat just laughed wildly and vanished.

"I think I know," Alice said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, hi Alice," the Tweedles broke from their freeze as if they had suddenly forgotten their quarrel and shook hands.

"Good fight Dee."

"Good fight Dum."

Alice giggled and crossed her arms, "That didn't take long for you two to make up."

Tweedledee shrugged, "I can't stay angry with this chucklehead for too long."

"Yeah," Dum agreed, "'cause I'm making dinner tonight."

"Besides," Dee wiggled his leg, "it doesn't hurt anymore."

Alice shook her head, "What a silly thing to fight over."

"We've had worse reasons," Dum admitted, "Like this one time, when we were younger, I got this new rattle and—"

"Tweedledum! Tweedledee! I was wondering if you could assist me!" A Walrus wearing overalls and a fancy, blue coat ran up the path and stopped in the clearing. He leaned on the cane in his hand as he was quite out of breath.

"Nice rhyme, Walrus," Dee chuckled.

"But what do you need?" Dum added.

The Walrus collected himself and cleared his throat, "I can't seem to find Piniped anywhere and I was wondering if the two of you had caught sight of him."

Alice and the Tweedles looked at each other uncertainly.

"You mean… your invisible friend?" Dee asked.

"But of course!" The Walrus exclaimed, "Unless there is someone else in Wonderland that goes by the name of Piniped."

"No," Tweedledum began, twiddling his thumbs, "it's just that—"

"We can honestly say," Dee cut in, giving Dum a warning look, "that we haven't seen him all day."

"Or at all," Alice murmured.

The Walrus blinked, "What was that?" Then he noticed Alice, "Ah, Alice so good to see you again!" He shook her hand cheerfully, "You wouldn't happened to have seen Piniped at all?"

"Sorry, no."

"This is ridiculous!" The Walrus beat the ground with his cane. "The Queen's party is going to begin soon, but I haven't the slightest idea as to where he could have wandered off to!"

"That's right!" Tweedledum recalled, "I completely forgot about the party!"

"We should probably head over to the palace," Dee suggested.

"But I can't go without Piniped," the Walrus protested.

"Don't worry, Mr. Walrus," Alice reassured him. "Maybe Piniped is already there waiting for you."

The Walrus sighed, "I certainly hope so." And with that, the four of them went off in the direction of the Queen's Palace.

As they left, a large black Gnat the size of a chicken flew from the bushes and landed on a tree. The enormous insect twitched with satisfaction and flew elsewhere in the forest until it came upon a sleeping man in black suit. His top hat was close to falling off his head.

The Gnat grimaced. "Yo Glad!" he yelled, causing the Copy-Catter Hatter to jump awake and his hat fell in his lap.

"Really, Gnat?" CC Hatter asked, replacing his hat to its proper perch, "I was sleeping!"

"Well, if you don't act now," Gnat sat on the ground in front of him, "you'll never get another chance."

CC Hatter sat up attentively, suddenly remembering what Gnat had been doing, "What did you hear?"

"They're all going to the palace for the Queen's party, every single one of them," Gnat informed him. "Hatter and Hare's invention will be unguarded, which gives you the perfect opportunity!"

CC Hatter smirked. Gnat certainly had proved his worth over the past couple days. He had met him on the train while leaving Hinterland.

"Hey," Gnat had said, hovering in the doorway of the cart, "you got room for one more?"

The Copy-Catter Hatter had looked indignantly around the near empty room. "You see anyone else here besides me? What do you think?"

"Well that was uncalled for," Gnat had said but had sat with CC Hatter anyway. "You look like you've got a story," he had pointed out. "Your face screams, 'I'm on a mission without permission.'"

CC Hatter had chuckled and replied, "You could say that." He had then proceeded to tell this complete stranger the story of how he was once called the Glad Hatter but was banished from Wonderland and given the title "Copy-Catter" and how he was now seeking his revenge. He didn't care if this little insect new about his history.

Gnat had seemed very interested. In fact, he had offered to help CC Hatter gain his revenge. When CC Hatter had asked why, he simply replied, "Excitement. Nothing fascinating ever happens, in Wonderland or Hinterland. I think it'd be fun to stir things up a little. Besides, I can help you. I'm great at stealth and stuff."

And now, here they were- Gnat and the Copy-Catter Hatter- working to satisfy one's revenge and the other's boredom.

"Well, Glad?" Gnat asked. He had insisted on calling his new companion "Glad" in honor of his old title.

"Excellent work Gnat," CC Hatter got to his feet excitedly. He was now full of insomnia, "We should go now, so that we can have a chance to… get well acquainted with _my_ new invention."

"Love the use of italics," Gnat mused, returning to the air.

With the Copy-Catter Hatter leading the way, the pair made their way through the shadows of the forest to Hatter's house and also, as CC Hatter hoped, his utter downfall.

* * *

So, yay another chapter! I don't know about you but I kind of like Gnat. Does anyone else remember him from Through the Looking-Glass? You never hear about him but he's in the chapter about Looking-Glass insects.


	4. Taken

Okay, if this chapter seems a little jumpy, it's because I wrote it backwards. Yeah, I knew where I wanted to get at the end of it but I wasn't sure how I was going to get there, so I started at the end and worked my way to the beggining. It turned out better than I expected though. ^^ Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

The March Hare wasn't quite sure what the Mad Hatter had meant by, "Keep it under our hats." Really the invention wasn't under a hat at all, but a blanket knitted by Hare's mother. They had been tweaking the final touches on the machine and had just thought of a name for their invention when they remembered the Queen's party. When Hare had asked what if they should tell everyone the name at the party Hatter had replied, "Oh, we'll just keep it under our hats until the convention," and it confused Hare deeply. Besides it would have been silly to hide the invention under a hat, unless it was a really big one. In the end he decided that the excitement of the upcoming contest was getting to Hatter and that he wasn't thinking straight.

Presently the two of them arrived at the Queen's garden. It was decorated with hearts and red roses, as usual, with a large banner strung across two trees that said, "First Day of Spring." Hatter and Hare went to the food table and set their contributions among the other foods. Hatter had made a special watermelon tea for the occasion and Hare had baked cinnamon crumpets. "It's a recipe my mother taught me," he had told Hatter proudly.

"There we are," said Hatter. "Can't wait for Saturday, how 'bout you?"

"It can't seem to come fast enough!" Hare replied, grinning.

"What's on Saturday?" Alice asked, approaching them. She, the Walrus, and the Tweedles had arrived before them.

"The National Wonderland Invention Convention," Hare explained.

"And Hare and I have entered in the invention contest," Hatter added.

"Sounds great," Alice beamed, "What does your invention do?"

The two of them shrugged. "I haven't the slightest idea," Hatter replied.

"Nor I."

Alice frowned, confused, "Well… how can you invent something but not know what it does?"

"It's quite simple really," Hatter said as he adjusted his gloves. "You just take some mechanical parts, along with some nuts and bolts, attach it all together, put in a battery pack and some flashy lights, and call it an invention."

"Well, aren't you two going to test it before the convention to see what it does?"

Hatter and Hare burst out laughing at this.

"Why on earth would we do a thing like that?" Hare asked.

"Really Alice, you think too much!" The two of them strode passed her to talk with the Tweedles, snickering as they did so.

Alice shook her head and reached for a cherry tart from the table. As she did so, a brown mouse with glasses and a tuff of fur on his head popped up from a teapot in the middle of the table. She jumped at his sudden appearance but smiled.

"Hello Alice," Dormouse said cheerfully.

"Hi Mr. Dormouse," Alice held out a tart for him, "Would you like a cherry tart?"

Dormouse shook his head, "No thanks, I'm on a strict treacle-free diet."

"Treacle?" Before Alice could ask what treacle was, the White Rabbit entered the room on his roller blades. He abruptly stopped at the doorway and almost fell on his face. Gaining his balance, he straightened his black bowtie and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Lady and Gentlemen," he said crisply, taking into account that Alice was in fact the only lady there, "May I have the duty- er, I mean _pleasure_ of introducing… the Queen of Hearts!"

All applauded as Queen entered in her usual humble manner- red gown flowing, jewelry sparkling, face craving attention.

"Good day, my loyal subjects," she proclaimed loudly, "and welcome to my annual First Day of Spring Celebration!" The guests broke out into applause again.

"Annual?" Dum asked Dee, "This is the first First Day of Spring party we've ever had."

"There you are Piniped!" the Walrus yelled over the applause, "I've been searching for you everywhere! Where on earth have you been?"

Everyone watched as the Walrus walked to an unoccupied space in the garden and put his arm around some invisible person.

"What's that Piniped? Ah, you had to get some rocking-horseflies out of your kitchen. Yes, those can cause a great deal of trouble. I remember one time—"

"Ahem!" The Queen looked at the Walrus with impatience and tapped her foot.

"Oh, my deepest apologies Your Majesty," the Walrus said bowing, "And Piniped is dreadfully sorry for being late to your party."

"He'd better be," the Queen murmured with indignance but then turned back to her guests with her large smile returned to her face. "As I was saying, today marks a very special day of the year, in which flowers thrive and birds fill the forest with song."

"She just wanted to have an excuse to have a party," Alice heard Rabbit grumble and it made her giggle.

"And so without further ado," the Queen concluded, "Let us rejoice on this happy occasion!"

The party went smoothly for a while. Everyone chatted and enjoyed the crumpets, tea, tarts, and cakes. Things became chaotic when Hare decided to show everyone a magic trick he had learned. He was supposed to poor some tea into an empty paper sack and then pull it back out as a dove. But instead of a dove, he got a large toad which proceeded to jump on the faces of everyone at the party and eventually landed on the Queen's head. She was so furious with Hare that she forbid him from doing anything but card tricks at her parties.

"An easy mistake to make, Your Majesty," Hatter said in his friend's defense. When he asked Rabbit and the Tweedles if they would come see Hare's magic show in a couple weeks, Rabbit replied, "As long as he doesn't try to pull me out of your hat!"

Things quieted down afterwards and Alice found herself drinking tea with the Walrus and Piniped. Walrus enjoyed Hatter's tea immensely and decided to ask for the recipe.

"Hatter, a word please," he said approaching him. "This tea of yours is absolutely divine!"

"Why thank you. I do have a special_ty_ for my special _tea_," he chuckled at his own bad pun.

Walrus didn't think it was so funny, "Piniped and I were wondering if you could give us the recipe."

"Oh, of course," Hatter paused. "You know, by the end of the party I'll probably forget to do it so I'd better go home and get it now."

"I can get it for you Hatter," Dormouse offered from his teapot, "In fact I think I have a copy of the recipe in my teapot back a home."

"Well thanks little buddy!" Hatter replied.

"No problem," Dormouse disappeared into his teapot and opened a small trap door at the bottom. A while ago, Hatter and Hare had installed an underground network of tunnels throughout Wonderland so that Dormouse could travel easily from place to place. Each exit came up as a teapot.

Dormouse placed a hat with a flashlight on his head and plopped down the tunnel, closing the trapdoor behind him. He navigated his way through the maze of tunnels until he came upon the exit to his own teapot on the Mad Hatter's tea table. Coming up, he took off his hat and bolted down the trapdoor.

"Now let's see," he muttered as he retrieved his recipe book from a shelf. "Where did I put that recipe?"

"Hey, you think it might be this thing?"

"No Gnat, I think it's the _other_ machine under a blanket!"

"Well, _excuse_ me!"

Dormouse's ears pricked up. Putting down the recipe book, he put his paws on the teapot lid and gave it a shove. His eyes widened at what he saw. A man dressed in black and a giant Gnat were taking Hatter's and Hare's invention!

"Hey!" Dormouse exclaimed, instantly recognizing the man in black, "I know you, you're the Copy-Catter Hatter!"

CC Hatter scowled and whipped around to face Gnat, "I thought you said that _everyone_ would be at that party!"

"I did!" Gnat said in his defense, "Can you blame me?"

"You're not even supposed to be in Wonderland," Dormouse continued, "and that invention belongs to Hare and Hatter!"

CC Hatter groaned. He didn't have time for this, "Gnat!"

"I got this," Gnat offered and flew at Dormouse.

Dormouse let out an, "Eep!" and disappeared inside his teapot. He hastily fumbled with the bolt on his trap door; he had to warn everyone. Before he could lift open the door, some invisible force flung him to the side of the pot. Pictures flew off the wall and chairs and tables were turned over. Dodging the shower of dishes falling from his cupboards, Dormouse went for his trapdoor again. But when he opened the door, he saw that he was levitating six feet above the tea table. He quickly closed it again, his heart pounding a mile a minute.

"Put me down!" He screamed, pounding the side of his teapot. His reply was a good shake from Gnat that caused his glasses to fall of his face.

CC Hatter sighed, "My apologies… Dormouse was it? But I've got plans for this machine and I can't exactly let the Mad Hatter, or anyone else for that matter, know that I've returned just yet."

Dormouse put his glasses back on with shaking hands and climbed up the spout of the teapot. He couldn't fit through but he could see CC Hatter hauling away the invention. It was still under the blanket.

"It's bad enough this thing is so heavy," CC Hatter complained, "no we've got to take this rat along with us."

"I could just eat him and then we wouldn't have to bother," Gnat offered. Dormouse froze.

"No Gnat, you can't eat him," said CC Hatter, "Besides, I thought you were a bloodsucker."

"Hey, at my size, you don't get all your vitamins through just blood," Gnat replied as he followed his companion, Dormouse's teapot clutched firmly in his legs, "Every now and then you've got to have a little meat. Fruit's good too. Did I ever tell you that my father was part fruit fly?"

Gnat went on but Dormouse wasn't listening anymore. He slid down from the spout and scanned his house. His kitchen table was upside down on his bed and all of his dishes and knick-knacks coated the floor. A picture of him, Hatter, and Hare lay on the ground by his feet, its frame and glass broken.

Dormouse picked it up gingerly and sat on the floor. Besides the fact that Gnat's flying caused the teapot to swing back and forth, he seemed to be having a hard time standing.

"Oh dear," he sighed as he wrapped his tail around his legs. He stared hard at the picture of his friends, wondering if he would ever see them again.

* * *

Let the insanity begin. *maniacal laughter*


End file.
